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Somewhat inspired by the question Snail centaur mobility and somewhat inspired by wondering about the stereotypical "slime girl".

If something moves around via one large "foot", say a large patch (1 foot square or more) of their body that meets the ground constantly, would there always be a need for some lubrication like a snail's mucus or are there plausible reasons why the path left behind by this creature would be left residue-less? Is some lubrication necessary so as to not abrade the creature's foot?

I am wondering how hand-wavey things would need to be so as to not need to clean up after this creature all the time. Of course, there's a certain amount of hand waving needed to explain it's size in the first place but I hope to ignore that for the moment.

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  • $\begingroup$ Where does it live: plains, forest, desert, swamp, bottom of lakes? How heavy is it, what does it eat? What shape is it (remember Titanoboa in the answer to the question you link to)? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 14:56
  • $\begingroup$ @Escapeddentalpatient. I'm thinking very specifically slime girls here to answer this, so both rural and urban areas. If one was working as a farmhand, they'd have to deal with dirt. If one was working as a secretary, they'd have to deal with tile or carpet. Mass would probably be roughly human, say 130 kg. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:21
  • $\begingroup$ Being as how they're called "slime girls" - why doesn't that answer the question? What are slime girls? - Please bear in mind that questions about third-party works are off-topic. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:28
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    $\begingroup$ @Escapeddentalpatient. slime girls are common fictional creature - typically gelatinous (not necessarily "slimy"), and in the form of a girl At least face, and hands. Their lower body often trails off into a shapeless form, or some times a puddle of the jelly-like subtance they are made off. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:33
  • $\begingroup$ @VLAZ Ah, like "Bubble" in Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Forgotten that, didn't realize it was a well known type. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:40

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Snakes do move somewhat like you describe, with a large patch of their body in contavt with the ground, and leave no slime trail at all.

So, slime is not necessary.

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  • $\begingroup$ I was under the impression snakes used multiple individual segments to perform their movement. If they didn't have segments, scales, would it affect how they move? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:17
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    $\begingroup$ @FinAndTonic Snails also move via wave-like contractions. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 16:32
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    $\begingroup$ @FinAndTonic: While some snakes do have a mode of locomotion where they lift and pull forward individual belly scales, their most common modes of locomotion are completely different. (And snakes don't have segments; there are some snake-like animals called amphisbenians which do have apparent segments, but they are not snakes.) $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 18:13
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No, but they need something to protect themselves from abrasion.

The ground is rough. Bare flesh against ground will create abrasion and wounds. Your creature needs something to protect themselves from the ground. You have several choices (which are not mutually exclusive):

  1. Slime it up. Lubricants reduce friction (Doh).

  2. Go slowly. Careful movements cause less harm. Snails obviously mix #1 and #2.

  3. Toughen it up: Hard scales, fur, thick leather, hooves, etc. Usually, this doesn't completely protect from friction and abrasion, so the tough body part that goes against the ground needs to regrow or to be replaced.

  4. Lighten it up. Friction depends on force, and a lighter creature weighs less. Yes, I'm being blatantly obvious here.

  5. Fly away. There's no ground abrasion if there's no touching the ground.

  6. Cover it up. E.G. Wear some shoes.

  7. Hop, Skip, JUMP! If you don't drag your body over the ground, there's less abrasion overall.

  8. Become sessile. Why move? Just make the food come to you.

  9. Teleport. No, really. The question does not exclude magic.

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  • $\begingroup$ I imagine a snail with a shoe wouldn't manage to move very far. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 18:26
  • $\begingroup$ @FinAndTonic A snail shoe is not necessarily the same as a human shoe. It could look/work more like a manica. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 20:45
  • $\begingroup$ @Nosajimiki I don't know that word; Wikipedia tells me it's a piece of armor with overlapping plates. If so, that's an awful lot like snake scales, right? Like described in the other answer and its comments? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 21:01
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    $\begingroup$ @FinAndTonic Exactly. Humans use shoes to replicate the thicker, tougher feet of other animals; so, no reason a soft bellied snake like animal could not replicate the thicker, tougher belly of a snake with segmented armor. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 21:29
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    $\begingroup$ When your belly is your foot, then your shoe is also your shirt. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 14 at 21:40
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The bigger you get, the thicker the sole of that foot can be

And the sole of the foot is all we're talking about. Snail slime serves multiple purposes, only one of which is to lubricate the movement process. The reason that lubrication is necessary is because a critter that small can't afford to give up enough mass to protect the foot without it.

But if we're talking a one square foot foot (I'm having trouble getting the image of that silly phrase out of my head), then we're talking about big critter! And that means the sole of that foot doesn't need lubrication.

Because it's callused leather. Not unlike your own feet.

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    $\begingroup$ It is a silly phrase and one of the reasons I didn't offer a bigger number. So an actual "molusc" that large might not need slime, but something that didn't actually have skin as we know it would need to recreate the layers and toughness of skin, to not need lubricant? $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 15 at 2:53
  • $\begingroup$ @FinAndTonic How scientifically accurate are you looking to be? (Ignoring the problem that such a creature already violates a lot of science.) What you need to do is rationalize your design. Personally, I'm voting for the foot having a sponge-like surface. Like hooves and finger nails, it's constantly growing. Not walking with the foot has... consequences.... $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 16 at 4:07
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    $\begingroup$ Accurate enough that a layperson would be able to read the excuse and say "sounds about right". Maybe I'll never have to put it into words, but having the explanation in the back of my mind could potentially help write a character better. $\endgroup$ Commented Nov 16 at 5:34

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